


Hertfordshire

by HiddingBonesofMachines



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, F/M, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, nothing too graphic tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8888257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddingBonesofMachines/pseuds/HiddingBonesofMachines
Summary: Basically the Pride and Prejudice Au nobody asked for featuring Team Voltron.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is going to be my first Voltron fanfic ever.   
> The plot is going to start out really similar to Pride and Prejudice and end ultimately the same way but as we go along there are going to be some differences of how it gets there.  
> Allura and Lance are Alfor and Corans only children   
> Pidge and Keith's parents adopted them because they couldnt have kids of their own, Matt might make an appearance as well.   
> Anyways I'm really excited for this and its really a self indulgent project but I hope you guys Enjoy!!

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”   
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

When a wealthy man comes galloping into town with his fortune paraded around on his sleeve, it is known that he is in need of someone to marry.

  
“My dear Alfor,” said his husband one day, “have you heard Netherfield park has finally been claimed?”

  
Alfor had replied that he had not.

  
“ Why it has!” Coran exclaimed. “In fact, Ms. Charlotte was just telling me all about it when I was in town this afternoon.”

  
Alfor made no comment.

  
“Are you not interested in who has claimed it!” Cried Coran.

  
“You have an interest in it my dear so I have no objections of hearing it.”

 

This had been invitation enough.

  
“Ms. Charlotte says he’s a strapping young man from up north. She says he was so taken with the property that he bought it on the spot and his servants are due to show up within the week.”

  
“What is his name?”

  
“Shirogane”

  
“Is he married or single?”

  
“Oh most definitely single! How fortunate for our Children.”

  
“Is that so?”

  
“Well of course! Should he marry one of them, they should be well off.”

  
“Is that why he has settled so quickly into his property? To marry one of our children?” Alfor asks dubiously.

  
“Of course not dear. I am simply stating that it could be a possibility, therefore a meeting should be arranged.”

  
Alfor only shook his head at his beloved, wandering off with a deep-seated chuckle that lingered behind him as he went.

  
It was later ascertained that Mr. Shirogane had been visited by Alfor and was inclined to return the favor. Coran had been beside himself, so pleased with his husband he had gone about fixing him a new coat. Of course, when Mr. Shirogane had returned the call, the only person he was permitted to see was Alfor himself. The children, on the other hand, had had no problem peering down into their father's study from their room.

  
“He’s quite handsome, wouldn't you agree?” Lance asked from beside his sister. Allura was peering contently at the man in question, her eyes alight with curiosity.

  
“Yes, quite handsome.”

She seemed to be of another place altogether so Lance took the chance to poke at her side. She squealed in surprise and lunged for her brother across the window seat. Both of them falling into the others arms, giggling wildly as Lance teased Allura mercilessly. Of course Coran had heard the ruckus and had gone and investigated, scolding his children for being so loud with a guest in the house but ultimately joining them as they spied on Mr. Shirogane and their father.

When they had tried to pry information from Alfor after the fact, the man had remained stoic from their ministrations. At supper he finally conceded to their questions that Mr. Shirogane would in fact be attending the towns’ ball. The family had been exhilarated.

 

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I really loved this scene from the movie rendition of Pride and Prejudice  
> my only regret is not getting my favorite quote in so I cheated and fit it at the top.  
> Anyway, Enjoy and feel free to comment with suggestions of things you might want to see or have happen becuase I will be moving off script here.

Mr. Darcy: So what do you recommend to encourage affection?

Elizabeth Bennet: Dancing. Even if one's partner is barely tolerable.

 

Coran had caught wind of a rumor that had been floating around on the lips of the people of Hertfordshire. Mr. Shirogane had gone into town on business to supposedly retrieve a large party of people to attend the balls festivities.  
Ms. Charlotte had been up in a fuss about the whole thing when she had come over for her afternoon tea with Coran. Worried for her niece's chances of marrying, when it was said that Mr. Shirogane would be bringing twelve girls back to Hertfordshire with him. Coran had had the grace not to scoff at the poor woman but had found himself worrying away at his fingernails later that night.

“My love, why are you so troubled?” Alfor asked as they lay in bed. Coran sighed and shifted around beneath the covers, making a show of huffing and puffing before he answered.

“It is said Mr.Shirogane is to bring back twelve girls from London.”

“And why is this concerning you so much?” Alfor asked.

“Because! Alfor you know as well as I that our children will need a secured future. Allura would do wonderful with Mr. Shirogane, but just as well, I believe Lance could make any man or woman a fine husband. I only worry for their future. I would never wish for anything again if our circumstances did not hinder their ability to find love and good fortune.”

Alfor shifted in their bed so that he was now gazing into the eyes of Coran. His hand reaching for his partners almost absentmindedly, as if he had not thought of doing so but his body had simply reacted.

“Our marriage is not a hindrance to our children. It is a declaration for them, and for the world, that they should be so lucky as to find a love like ours.”  
He raises Coran’s hand to his lips and kisses tenderly at the ring that adorns his finger. His husband blushes before him and with the love that Alfor had come to know, his husband graces him with the kindest of looks.

“I never meant to imply so otherwise, my dear.”  
Coran decides to put the thoughts to rest for the time being.

 

it did not take even a day before he was at it again. Mr. Shirogane had arrived back in town, his party much smaller than word of the town would have suggested. At the ball itself, his party grew even smaller in size, consisting of the man himself, his dear friend Mr. Kogane and his younger sister Katherine, The two eldest siblings of the Balmera Family, and his distant cousin Nyma.  
The ball was in full throttle and Mr. Shirogane had managed to woo the entire room within an hour. He proved to be a true gentleman and had danced with any who asked, though Lance had noticed he favored Allura out of everyone. The others of Mr. Shirogane’s party had been proper enough, and the town had taken a liking to them as well, the only odd one out had been Mr. Kogane. He was a decidedly handsome man, only just past his youth, and had an air about him that demanded attention and authority. At first glance, he seemed to be a highly agreeable man, until his manners had ruined such a perception. He did not dance with a single person in the room and only addressed the members of his party for the entirety of the night. Even when Lance had counted five young ladies sitting down without a partner, Mr. Kogane had refused to greet any of them.

“How highly he must think of himself to not dance with the women of Hertfordshire,” Lance says. Hunk laughs beside him as they stare across the room at the person in question.

“Maybe he’s shy.” Hunk offers.  
Lance rolls his eyes at that, only crossing his arms as he eyes his friend whose attention has been drawn abruptly elsewhere. He follows his friend's gaze to the Balmeran girl who sits beside Mr. Kogane. Lance smirks knowingly and reaches out to pat Hunks shoulder.

“Pretty one, isn't she?” He says wittingly. Hunk’s face turns a pretty shade of pink Lance has seen all too often. Lance throws his head back and laughs, catching the eyes of a few people nearby. He nudges Hunk forward with his elbow.

“Well go on then! You can't ask her to dance standing all the way over here.”  
Hunk only seems to redden at his words.

“Would it be proper? She is friends with such high standing people…” Lance ignores the hesitation in Hunks voice.

“She’d be a damn fool to turn her nose up to you, besides I do believe the room is only big enough for Mr.Kogane’s self-absorbed ego, two couldn't possibly fit.” He jokes and pushes his friend further into the room. Hunk seems to steal himself and manages a quick smile to his friend before marching off to the pretty girl.

Lance finds himself alone for the majority of the night, dancing with a few of the neighbor's girls to be polite, and even managing to wrangle Hunk away from Ms. Balmera- Shay, Hunk had told him- to dance with. Allura had been kept busy all night with possible suitors, only just getting a break to tell Lance of how amazing Mr. Shirogane was to then be swept away again. It wasn't until it was too late that Lance had found himself seated with a pretty girl while Mr. Kogane and Mr. Shirogane chatted away nearby.

“Keith I beg you, ask someone to dance.”

“You know I despise dancing Shiro, besides you have the only reasonable partner here.”

“Oh now, don't be rude. There are plenty of beautiful people here tonight. Why don’t you ask Lance to dance, I saw him dancing with that boy Shay seemed to like earlier, he seems quite agreeable.” Mr. Shirogane prompts. Keith only sighs and turns away from his friend.

“If it will make you happy, I will dance with Katie, but no one else. I'm not in the mood to deal with someone so foolishly simple so stop pestering me about it.”  
Lance shoots daggers at the man's back as his friend throws his hands up in defeat and walks away. He spends the rest of the night making a joke about the incident, claiming he would never have accepted an offer from such a pompous man, but Lance couldn't help feeling his pride had been wounded.


	3. Chapter 3

 

            Coran had declared the night a success. When he and his children returned home to Alfor, they couldn't help telling him all about the night's events. Coran did most of the talking, with an occasional add in from Lance or Allura. It wasn't until the two siblings had a chance to be alone, that Allura truly talked about how she felt the night had gone and gave her brother her honest opinion of its occupants.

  
           “He is everything a respectable man should be!” she says, “Kind, funny, lively, and I’ve never seen such happy manners!”

  
           “Hmm” Lance smiles at his sister, “He’s also quite rich.” Allura slaps his arm playfully and huffs, Lance only laughs.

  
They’re seated on Allura’s bed, Lance lying down on his stomach across the mattress as his sister braids her hair next to him. Alfor and Coran had taken in Allura when she was only three years of age. Her mother, Alfor’s sister, had passed away suddenly; no one knew where her father was. Alfor had been quick to take her into his home, Coran falling in love with the child almost instantly. They had heard there had been a bit of an uproar at the two men for exposing a child to their way of life, but when Alfor stood before the courts and asked for any of its occupants to take charge of the child in question, none had spoken.

  
Neither Lance nor Allura thought of love as something as simple as choosing one's shoes for the day, they loved and respected their fathers, and even in their circumstances, considered themselves the luckiest in Hertfordshire. It is for these reasons and more that Lance took note of the hesitance that lingered within Allura.

  
            “He’d make a fine husband for you” he prompts quietly, his hair falling into his eyes after having rubbed at the slick Coran had placed in it earlier. Allura, in all her beauty, puffs the apples of her cheeks, her fingers throwing the braid she had meticulously worked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes down to Lance who simply smiled in the face of her annoyance.

  
           “He’d make a fine husband for any woman Lance, I dare say he could even weather you!” she teases.  
It's Lance’s turn to huff at his sister, rolling onto his side and away from her to leave for the night. As he reaches the bedroom door he pauses, tossing a smile behind him to Allura as he says,

  
           “Only if Mr.Shirogane is a sailor. In which I would assume he craves the sea and not the waves of the cliffs edge like any reasonable man, and my dear you have never been anything less than the deep waters that lie within your soul.” Lance bids his sister goodnight and lays in his bed until the sun found him once again in the darkness of his room.

 

       It was to none a surprise to find that Mr.Shirogane's party had called upon Allura shortly after the ball. She was to attend tea with the youngest Kogane and The Balmera girl Hunk had taken a liking to. In his sister's absence, Lance kept entertained with helping Coran with chores and speaking with Alfor, who was due out for a short time on a hunting trip with some business partners. He saw Hunk in passing, the lovestruck fool had been working more at the bakery ever since he had heard Shay had a weakness for sweets.

  
       It was on a rather poorly day that Lance found himself in the marketplace, browsing the day's latest merchandise while Hunk chattered mindlessly about Shay.

  
            “I am telling you, Lance, she makes even the most horrid colors seem like meadows.” Hunk has a ripe apple within his grasp, and he stares intently at the hues as they catch on the slivers of light that manage to slip past the barrage of clouds. His dark hair has been pulled back in a tie, the strays of his hair cup to his face only accentuating the lines of its planes further. Lance has never been blind to his friends beauty and at one time, Lance would admit, he had even toyed with the idea of courting the man, but there was, of course, a very important factor missing, one Lance would shamefully come to find out after making a fool of himself by kissing his friends hand. Hunk had been kind enough to blush at the matter and stayed true to his nature by only further committing himself to Lance’s life. He isn't quite sure what he would do without the others presence altogether, though as of the moment he would much rather prefer anyone else to Hunks swooning.

  
       As if the mother nature herself is listening to his most inner thoughts a shadow passes over them as the two friends huddle close together for warmth, and a throat clears behind them. Almost comically they turn around in sync to greet the stranger behind them, only to find two strangers who, to Lance’s dismay, are not in fact strangers. Hunk is the first to collect himself, tipping his hat to the people in question.

  
      “Mr.Kogane, Miss” He bows at the waist when he turns to Katherine and is quick to nudge Lance rather harshly to follow suit. Lance, in all honesty, would never have had presented such poor manners if it had not been for the fact that he had been honestly startled at Mr. Kogane’s presence.

  
He manages to greet Katherine with an appropriate amount of warmness and only a mildly stiff exchange for Mr. Kogane. As soon as he closes his mouth he wishes he had not. The four stand in silence as they stare across to each other, Lance and Hunk rather underdressed compared to the Kogane’s attire, The Kogane’s seeming particularly ill-socialized in the absence of their words. When Lance can bear it no longer, right as Hunk begins to sway on his feet in distress, he clears his throat and takes the beating for them all.

  
      “Quite poor weather this season, Ms. Lucas swore just yesterday we’d be seeing snow soon.” There are three mumbled replies of agreement, the most of which comes from Hunk.

  
      "Yes, quite poorly it is.” Katherine says, her eyes glancing sidelong at her brother and Lance swears he sees the fires of Dante's vengeance in that look. Mr. Kogane seems not to notice the withering stare.

  
     “Ms.Kogane,” Lance starts but she smiles and hold up a hand to interrupt him,

  
     “Please Lance, there's no need for formalities while in my presence, I would much prefer it if you called me Kat.”

  
     “Very well, Kat, have you been finding my sister's company enjoyable?”  
Kat’s smile only seems to grow brighter,

  
     “Oh, I adore Allura! She has quite the intellect and is the only one man enough to laugh at my quips.” Mr.Kogane scowls a bit as he turns to his sister.

  
     “That’s because you make jokes of crude subjects that leave Shiro and I absolutely astonished. Poor Allura only laughs because you intimidate the noise from her”

  
     “Keith I could never intimidate anything out of Allura, if you haven't noticed by now that she is the force of a thousand mountains, i doubt you will ever realize that she could kill you with her bare hands; and what a tragic way to die that is.”

  
Lance coughs rather loudly to cover the snort that escaped him, he finds a very intense interest in the string that dangles from the cuff of his sleeve. Kat seems to notice however and grins in his direction.

  
     “She tends to talk rather fondly of you, Nyma is convinced you're part god” She continues.

  
     “As well as I should be, wouldn't you agree?”

  
    “No.” say Kat and Hunk. Lance scowls rather childishly at the two but Hunk only offers a gentle clap on his shoulder in condolence.

  
    “That's only because you have never danced with me”

  
    “I have danced with you Lance,” Hunk chirps, “and I nearly hurled afterward I was so dizzy.”

  
    “That means nothing Hunk, you have the stomach of a fulmar chick.” Lance crosses his arms and stares pointedly at the man in question who in turn shrugs sheepishly.

  
    “So you claim that any that might dance with you would be dancing with god himself?” Keith asks. Lance jumps at the voice, having almost managed to forget about the man. He turns his gaze rather coldly to him as that same voice echoes through his mind.

  
“If one is only willing to tolerate me, yes.” He watches as a deep read sprouts itself over Keith’s cheeks and neck, his hand coming to rest at the back of his neck for a short second before he drops it and squares his shoulders.

  
    “Well then we shall see soon enough” Keith turns on his heel and walks a distance away, the tint in his cheeks the last thing Lance sees.

  
    “Soon enough? What on earth does he mean?” Hunk asks.

  
     “Oh, you haven't heard? Shiro is so taken with Hertfordshire he’s planned a ball for celebration of his good fortune. I’m sure Allura will have much to say about it once she returns home.” Kat smiles keenly before biding the two goodbye. Lance has the sudden urge to run home and demand answers from his sister, so that's exactly what he does.


End file.
